The present invention relates generally to the field of cold aseptic filling (e.g., CAF, aseptic cold filling, ACF, aseptic filling, etc.).
In cold aseptic filling systems, food, drink, or drug containers are sterilized with a cleaning solution before they are filled. Heat is not used for the sterilization. After cleaning solution is used, it is often recovered (e.g., into a recovery tank) and reused for sterilizing future batches of containers.
As a cleaning solution containing peracetic acid (PAA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is reclaimed and reused, the PAA concentration drops relative to the H2O2. Accordingly, in cold aseptic filling systems using such a cleaning solution, systems or processes are sometimes set up to add fresh PAA-based cleaning solution to the cold aseptic filling loop to maintain a desired PAA concentration in the solution to be sprayed on or into the containers. This addition results in increasing H2O2 levels. High H2O2 levels can result in undesirable corrosion of container surfaces or equipment surfaces, non-compliance with food processing regulations, or other undesirable issues.
Conventional systems and methods for detecting an H2O2 level in a cold aseptic filling system using a PAA-based cleaning solution include robotic or automatic titration or manual titration of liquid in the reclamation tank.